Sleeping under a billion stars

Hello there! How’s it going, everyone? How was your holy week? Did you guys stay at home and spend the whole week with your family? As for me, we just stayed at home and spent the holy week with my family, except on Good Friday. They said, well, as what the oldies have always said to us, they said that we shouldn’t do any things. We are not allowed to play music, take a bath, cut our nails, etc., because it is the day when our Jesus Christ died. I forgot the Bisaya term for it. When we were younger, we always obeyed what our grandparents said, because if we do those kinds of things, it’s a disrespect to the death of our Jesus.

When we were younger, we were so scared to do things that were forbidden, but right now, as we grow older, those old myths that our grandparents used to say to us are starting to disappear. Sometimes I still follow my grandparents sometimes to pay respect, but sometimes my cousins already don’t care about it because they believe that it's not even true and that it's just an old myth. We were told not to go anywhere, especially on Good Friday, but still, they do as to what they have planned.

Last March, all of us cousins had already planned on having an overnight camping trip on one of our grandparents' owned lands in the higher part of the mountain. They have been planning it all ever since last February because we haven’t done any camping or hiking since last year and they wanted to do it again. At first, we really thought that our camping trip would be cancelled or postponed because of the typhoon last week, so we already expected that it wouldn’t happen. But, thank goodness that the typhoon is already gone and the sun showed up right after.

When the sky was already cleared and the sun had shown up after the storm, they were so happy because our camping trip would truly happen. And just yesterday, Good Friday, we prepared things needed for our camp. We brought tents and hammocks. We only brought three tents since most of them only use hammocks. We have prepared water, food, and some other essentials needed for camp and the hike. It is a one-hour hike from our house to the highest part of the mountain. Actually, we have been there before, but we didn’t camp there because we were just having a picnic at that time and it was just a sudden decision to climb that mountain.

Our journey was so tiring and exhausting, especially when climbing on a very rocky part of the mountain and steep sides. Not just that, we crossed some rivers, though not big ones, just small ones. It took us five stops before we arrived at our destination, so it took us an hour and a half to hike that highest part of the mountain. It was an awesome and memorable adventure along with my cousins.

We went there at 3 in the afternoon, and when we arrived, it was already 5 pm. We then set up the tents and hammocks that they will be using, and there were some trees on the side that was ideal for their hammock.

This is the sunset view. When we arrived in the afternoon, we thought we were not going to be able to witness the sunset, and just as we arrived, the sun was already about to set. After we set up everything, we then cooked our food. We brought canned goods and some frozen hotdogs and tempura. It was no longer frozen when we arrived, but it was still cold.

This is the night view at the top of the mountain. These are not city lights, they're provincial lights. Staring at that view feels so relaxing. You don’t have to think of anything else because you’re just enjoying yourself. What makes it more relaxing is the beautiful and majestic view of the stars that twinkle in the sky and the moon that brings light to us.

When we woke up at 5 in the morning, this is the beautiful view that greeted us good morning. We didn't have our breakfast there since the food that we brought was only good for dinner and snacks that night. We just had our coffee and sat there, watching the view and talking about random stuff. If only we could stay like that forever, but we must face the reality.

Jini's Note:

Hey there, lovelies! It's been so long since my last interaction with you. I just want you to know that I am still active and kickin' I do still visit this platform from time to time, sometimes I just forgot to leave a comment. Teehee, my apologies.

By the way, thanks for stopping by and spending a minute of your time reading this random blog of mine, I truly appreciate your presence here!

Stay hydrated and stay safe always!